So I wanted to go to a parade today for Memorial Day. I hadn't planned it, I just started waking everyone up at about 9:15 this morning.
Didn't happen.
Couldn't get anyone motivated.
OK, so let's do the nature thing. Nature has no timetable, no hurry.
Samma and I have had great experiences just walking in forest preserves and parks lately.
We went to LeRoy Oakes here in St. Charles on Friday and walked by a creek, met this frog Samma named Joseph, and I got an un-named tick on my leg.
Saturday, we did a double: we went to Klein Creek Farm in Winfield and found out their horses were at another farm, so we went there too. We went across town to St. James Farm in search of Annie and Jack the horses. We found them pulling a hay wagon and we saw lots of other beautiful horses. I spotted another un-named tick on someone's else's shirt.
Aside from the ticks, it has been great to be with Samma with no distractions. Let's see how it is with husband Dave along. He is not a nature guy. The only morning Dew he is interested in comes from a can.
Today, after a breakfast of cookies, and Mountain Dew for Dave, we finally stepped off at noon-ish. We headed to Blackwell, in Warrenville, to walk on some trails, see some nature... but we got detoured.
We passed by Fermi Lab and Dave said "Hey I remember they had this ball on a string that showed the world moving around..."
OK. Ball on a string, a free holiday must-see.
At Fermi Lab, I couldn't help but think of the Simpson's episode with the three-eyed fish. They had huge fish hopping out of the pond in front of the main building. They were named Blinky and Winky of course.
Then we headed toward the herd of buffalo. We got out of the Jeep and stood by a fence and we could only see one buffalo over the tall grass. He was the guard, we decided, because he was the only one standing. Samma named him Phillip, completely off the top of her head, in an instant.
"Oh, that's Phillip."
So we left Phillip and meandered into the main building. We saw the ball, er, the pendulum, it was neat. We joked that an empty display case was full of Neutrinos, we asked Samma what flavor of Neutrino she wanted, and we left.
Now off to nature right?
No, we did a drive-through at Blackwell.
Despite the fact that Dave has 2000 cousins in the area, none of the family reunions or picnics said "Hermes." So we drove along making up names and stories for everyone. I guess we missed being away from the Jon and Kate plus 8 marathon, because we had to narrate over the action like they do.
Fine. We were not invited to the parties. It was raining a little. We will make our own picnic at home! So there!
So we went home and ate like pigs... and there weren't any ticks!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Working out with Bruce Springsteen
Not a huge fan of The Boss. He was always too stripped down, too jeans and a t-shirt, plain kind of guy. I live with that, that is my husband's uniform, why pay fto see that? I always liked a bit more drama, more of a show.
Bruce Springsteen shows were like you go to a show and the singer didn't come and some crazy guy got onstage and just started singing. His music was too rock and roll-y, and the concerts like a party onstage that I was not invited to. I could only watch them having a good time. I was stuck out in row 97 somewhere. The songs were endless too, with solos for all of his fellow partiers on stage. "Now a ten minute tambourine solo... yeah!"
So when I went to work out today at the clubhouse at my apartment complex, and the only music on any channel was Bruce Springsteen live, I was torn. Listen to music on my phone that I have listened to a zillion times? Listen to The Boss.
Well, I do like "Glory Days."
So there I was, I worked out while Bruce worked out. My goodness does he work out! His shirt was soaked. He contorted his body and face just like I was while I was trying to do that last sit-up.
I still wouldn't say I am a huge fan of The Boss, but he won me over. Everyone onstage was having fun and he was really working it. Yeah. He's a regular guy having the time of his life with his friends. That's pretty cool, even though he didn't do "Glory Days."
Bruce Springsteen shows were like you go to a show and the singer didn't come and some crazy guy got onstage and just started singing. His music was too rock and roll-y, and the concerts like a party onstage that I was not invited to. I could only watch them having a good time. I was stuck out in row 97 somewhere. The songs were endless too, with solos for all of his fellow partiers on stage. "Now a ten minute tambourine solo... yeah!"
So when I went to work out today at the clubhouse at my apartment complex, and the only music on any channel was Bruce Springsteen live, I was torn. Listen to music on my phone that I have listened to a zillion times? Listen to The Boss.
Well, I do like "Glory Days."
So there I was, I worked out while Bruce worked out. My goodness does he work out! His shirt was soaked. He contorted his body and face just like I was while I was trying to do that last sit-up.
I still wouldn't say I am a huge fan of The Boss, but he won me over. Everyone onstage was having fun and he was really working it. Yeah. He's a regular guy having the time of his life with his friends. That's pretty cool, even though he didn't do "Glory Days."
Monday, May 4, 2009
Scavenger Hunt on the Fox River Trail
I spent five hours on the hard, wooden chair in front of my iMac today. It went by in the blink of an eye, although I don’t think I blinked much while I was staring at the monitor.
While the birds sang outside, I was tweeting inside. I found out earlier this morning that today is Star Wars day and I had to join the party on Twitter. By the way, May the Fourth be with you! I have never felt so connected to my fellow geeks!
I also joined in the twitterview with Romeo The Cat, a tan and white Persian who helps Petside raise awareness and money for his fellow animals. He is such a great example to my cats: they lionize him, so to speak. I had to talk to him, for them.
Then while the apartment workers were fixing the patio outside, I was working on Word Hunt on Facebook inside. My score was in the top 200 and I am two points from earning an imaginary friend to play with! I will have about twenty celebrities to choose from, but I am torn between Elvis and Archimedes. I am tempted by Indiana Jones, too; he is a professor, after all! Darth Vader is on the list, I think, but he cheats. Any one of them will be a great help, though, as they will give me another letter rack to search.
I started to feel as stiff as the chair around two o’clock. I realized that my fingers were the only body part that moved the entire time my daughter Samma was at school. I ate, stretched and made some tea.
By quarter to three, the caffeine from my tea was kicking in so I was ready to go, go, go! I picked up Samma, and we got her scooter and some old bread to feed the geese, and we went to Old Mill Park in Geneva.
For some reason, maybe the OCD, or maybe from reading The DaVinci code, I notice things. I just notice lots of little things. Today I noticed a lot of odd things people left along the trail from Old Mill to the Japanese Tea Garden. It was like a scavenger hunt, for which I didn’t have a list.
It was just like playing Word Hunt, but instead of letters, I found objects people had cast off during their trip down the trail. Strangely, much of it starts with the letter B or P. Were this a Dan Brown novel, perhaps I could tell you the secret of the universe from that code.
Instead, I have an excuse to get back in front of my Mac.
Following is the missing list for the scavenger hunt, if anyone might care to join me in collecting some of these items later this week, when I am not so sore. If Samma goes too, she will not be on the scooter, I assure you.
Abandoned items on the trail:
Two baby bibs: one in the gazebo and one on a bush
A black button between the boards on the viewing deck
A white ponytail holder
Paper plates
Parts of a styrofoam cooler
A brown Bandaid with horseshoe designs on it, stuck to a retaining wall
Gardener’s gloves stuck in a fence and forgotten
Sport socks hanging on a bush
A light brown Pipe cleaner
Natural Items that also caught my eye:
Tiny fresh catnip leaves for my kitties
Strawberry plants looking for strawberry fields
Three huge great Danes taking their day off from guarding the gates of Hades
A little white Poodle mix patiently fishing with his family
A teensy Chihuahua-Italian Greyhound mix rocking a snazzy backpack
A baby shepherd who didn’t seem to want to be on the pavement
A high school cross-country team, with and without shirts (Samma noticed, not me)
Someone practicing hockey on roller blades
A sweet young couple with their little baby boy in his stroller
And to top it off: more riverbugs than there are stars in the Alderaan system
I spent five hours on the hard, wooden chair in front of my iMac today. It went by in the blink of an eye, although I don’t think I blinked much while I was staring at the monitor.
While the birds sang outside, I was tweeting inside. I found out earlier this morning that today is Star Wars day and I had to join the party on Twitter. By the way, May the Fourth be with you! I have never felt so connected to my fellow geeks!
I also joined in the twitterview with Romeo The Cat, a tan and white Persian who helps Petside raise awareness and money for his fellow animals. He is such a great example to my cats: they lionize him, so to speak. I had to talk to him, for them.
Then while the apartment workers were fixing the patio outside, I was working on Word Hunt on Facebook inside. My score was in the top 200 and I am two points from earning an imaginary friend to play with! I will have about twenty celebrities to choose from, but I am torn between Elvis and Archimedes. I am tempted by Indiana Jones, too; he is a professor, after all! Darth Vader is on the list, I think, but he cheats. Any one of them will be a great help, though, as they will give me another letter rack to search.
I started to feel as stiff as the chair around two o’clock. I realized that my fingers were the only body part that moved the entire time my daughter Samma was at school. I ate, stretched and made some tea.
By quarter to three, the caffeine from my tea was kicking in so I was ready to go, go, go! I picked up Samma, and we got her scooter and some old bread to feed the geese, and we went to Old Mill Park in Geneva.
For some reason, maybe the OCD, or maybe from reading The DaVinci code, I notice things. I just notice lots of little things. Today I noticed a lot of odd things people left along the trail from Old Mill to the Japanese Tea Garden. It was like a scavenger hunt, for which I didn’t have a list.
It was just like playing Word Hunt, but instead of letters, I found objects people had cast off during their trip down the trail. Strangely, much of it starts with the letter B or P. Were this a Dan Brown novel, perhaps I could tell you the secret of the universe from that code.
Instead, I have an excuse to get back in front of my Mac.
Following is the missing list for the scavenger hunt, if anyone might care to join me in collecting some of these items later this week, when I am not so sore. If Samma goes too, she will not be on the scooter, I assure you.
Abandoned items on the trail:
Two baby bibs: one in the gazebo and one on a bush
A black button between the boards on the viewing deck
A white ponytail holder
Paper plates
Parts of a styrofoam cooler
A brown Bandaid with horseshoe designs on it, stuck to a retaining wall
Gardener’s gloves stuck in a fence and forgotten
Sport socks hanging on a bush
A light brown Pipe cleaner
Natural Items that also caught my eye:
Tiny fresh catnip leaves for my kitties
Strawberry plants looking for strawberry fields
Three huge great Danes taking their day off from guarding the gates of Hades
A little white Poodle mix patiently fishing with his family
A teensy Chihuahua-Italian Greyhound mix rocking a snazzy backpack
A baby shepherd who didn’t seem to want to be on the pavement
A high school cross-country team, with and without shirts (Samma noticed, not me)
Someone practicing hockey on roller blades
A sweet young couple with their little baby boy in his stroller
And to top it off: more riverbugs than there are stars in the Alderaan system
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Bacon Tickles
My husband Dave wanted eggs for breakfast this morning, along with breakfast meat, and he wanted pancakes.
I was stubbornly trying to hang on to sleep in my daughter's lower bunk. She woke up early and got online in my bedroom and talked to her twenty-two Webkinz for half an hour before I decided I didn’t want to eavesdrop any more. I went in her room, carefully avoiding the Barbie Army in formation in the center of the room, and tried to go back to sleep.
Meanwhile, Dave did the math- two eggs plus zero processed meat minus me equals no hot breakfast.
To add to the algebra, I have clean laundry on the table. With the washer and dryer in the kitchen, the table is for meals and folding, but not both at once. No math needed there!
I mumbled that we actually do have pancake mix, but Dave was already too far gone. He quietly told Samma we were going to IHOP! She actually hopped off the computer and ran to tell me.
Half asleep, I heard those letters and yelled to him—“are you just trying to get me up to make you breakfast or are we really going?”
“I just gotta comb my hair and brush my teeth.”
It takes my husband longer to get ready than the typical teenage girl. He has to smoke four or five cigarettes and watch a dumb movie, maybe take a nap… so when he says he’s gotta get ready, I am ready to wait, and I expect to wait until the next meal. I was thinking lunch, and dozing off again.
It wasn’t long, actually, before I heard keys.
I am positive the fashion police don’t frequent IHOP, at least not on a Sunday morning, so I rolled carefully out of Samma’s bed, stepped around the Barbie Army and got dressed in the dining room. And we were off.
I went with a dessert based on pancakes. It had butterscotch and nuts and whipped cream just like a sundae. I had to fuel my planned trip to the workout room, after all.
Dave had his eggs and pancakes and a carnivore treasure hunt! The bacon and sausage were on the sides of the plate but Canadian bacon was hiding under the pancakes. He was delighted to find it. The more meat the better! I don’t know what he had to fuel with all that food- a small jet plane?
Samma had eggs and pancakes but for some reason she wanted her father’s bacon! He gave her half a piece. It wasn’t enough. When the server came by, Samma ordered herself a side of bacon. Dave and I looked at each other and smiled. She rarely eats meat, sometimes even saying she is a vegetarian like me. I say she is a part-time vegetarian, and that is fine.
But the bacon was too much. Soon I had bacon marching up my left arm while I was trying to eat.
“Mom, have my bacon.”
“Mom, the bacon wants to hop into your mouth.”
I guess she is a rapid cycling part-time vegetarian. It goes minute by minute.
I was stubbornly trying to hang on to sleep in my daughter's lower bunk. She woke up early and got online in my bedroom and talked to her twenty-two Webkinz for half an hour before I decided I didn’t want to eavesdrop any more. I went in her room, carefully avoiding the Barbie Army in formation in the center of the room, and tried to go back to sleep.
Meanwhile, Dave did the math- two eggs plus zero processed meat minus me equals no hot breakfast.
To add to the algebra, I have clean laundry on the table. With the washer and dryer in the kitchen, the table is for meals and folding, but not both at once. No math needed there!
I mumbled that we actually do have pancake mix, but Dave was already too far gone. He quietly told Samma we were going to IHOP! She actually hopped off the computer and ran to tell me.
Half asleep, I heard those letters and yelled to him—“are you just trying to get me up to make you breakfast or are we really going?”
“I just gotta comb my hair and brush my teeth.”
It takes my husband longer to get ready than the typical teenage girl. He has to smoke four or five cigarettes and watch a dumb movie, maybe take a nap… so when he says he’s gotta get ready, I am ready to wait, and I expect to wait until the next meal. I was thinking lunch, and dozing off again.
It wasn’t long, actually, before I heard keys.
I am positive the fashion police don’t frequent IHOP, at least not on a Sunday morning, so I rolled carefully out of Samma’s bed, stepped around the Barbie Army and got dressed in the dining room. And we were off.
I went with a dessert based on pancakes. It had butterscotch and nuts and whipped cream just like a sundae. I had to fuel my planned trip to the workout room, after all.
Dave had his eggs and pancakes and a carnivore treasure hunt! The bacon and sausage were on the sides of the plate but Canadian bacon was hiding under the pancakes. He was delighted to find it. The more meat the better! I don’t know what he had to fuel with all that food- a small jet plane?
Samma had eggs and pancakes but for some reason she wanted her father’s bacon! He gave her half a piece. It wasn’t enough. When the server came by, Samma ordered herself a side of bacon. Dave and I looked at each other and smiled. She rarely eats meat, sometimes even saying she is a vegetarian like me. I say she is a part-time vegetarian, and that is fine.
But the bacon was too much. Soon I had bacon marching up my left arm while I was trying to eat.
“Mom, have my bacon.”
“Mom, the bacon wants to hop into your mouth.”
I guess she is a rapid cycling part-time vegetarian. It goes minute by minute.
Friday, April 10, 2009
New Zoo Review?
The Zoo is not exactly like the jungle. The zoo is contained. Somewhat restrained. And that is what my life is like.
Not exactly interesting, I agree, but I am trying to coordinate my blog with my Facebook notes. Patience as I navigate new waters.
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